Walpurgia Ashstone
|Row 2 title = Gender:|Row 2 info = Female|Row 3 title = Age:|Row 4 title = Affiliations:|Row 4 info = * |Row 5 title = Titles:|Row 6 title = Family:|Row 7 title = Status:|Row 7 info = Alive|Row 6 info = Raebelyn Ashstone (Sister) Baelias Runeoak (Brother In-Law) |Row 3 info = Middle-aged|Row 5 info = Forgemaster }} Walpurgia Ashstone is a Dark Iron Dwarf currently under the employ of the Blades of Greymane. She works under the leadership of Thane Nulric Ironcrag, and lives within the dwarven embassy-town of Dun Boldihr. History Walpurgia was born just before the War of the Three Hammers, but was far too young to recall the events of the war. The youngest of her clan’s generation, Walpurgia was one of the first Dark Iron children to experience the hellish landscape that their home had turned into; the Burning Steppes and Searing Gorge. Her sister, Raebelyn, a veteran of the war, had not returned home and was presumed dead by the rest of the clan after she was captured by Wildhammer forces during the war; leaving Walpurgia to fill her role in the clan as a forge-mistress. The moment that Walpurgia was capable of carrying and using a hammer, as well as pulling the bellows of the Forge, she was set to work. Schooled in the ways of melding and forming Dark Iron, Walpurgia learned her craft primarily from the teachings of the famous Franclorn F. Forgewright, as most Dark Irons had, and the many memoirs he left behind. In particular, she became especially attuned to the manipulation of flame and steel together. This led to her pursuit of engineering works, akin to Forgewright. This suited her well as she grew into her position in life, as the Dark Iron clan’s enslavement to the Firelord, Ragnaros, forced most of the clan into indentured servitude. Walpurgia was no exception, forced onto the front-lines outside of her home in Blackrock to fight all manner of beasts that had risen from the blackened ash of the once fertile landscape the Dark Irons called home. From subjugation of core hounds, to purging of lava spiders, to even the immolation of her cousin dwarves from Khaz Modan; Walpurgia became exceedingly attuned to battle just as she had with craftsmanship. It was no small comfort that Walpurgia’s skills could also be attuned in practical means, as she became an expert demolitionist; her honed craft creating deadly explosives that could turn the tide of skirmishes when she needed them. Second War Having proven herself as a capable fighter, engineer and independantly thinking dwarf; Walpurgia rose to a comfortable position in Blackrock Mountain. Having her own workshop, home and lifestyle; the dwarf woman was content in all aspects. This did not last, as the First War rampaged the human kingdom of Stormwind just south of her homeland. While the Dark Irons had off and on again relations with the humans, the fall of their southern neighbor was not felt in form of sorrow for their fallen, rather, fear for what had destroyed them. The Horde, led by the Blackrock Clan, set its sights on the north; leading its armies into the dwarven holdfast and conquering the majority of the mountain from its original inhabitants. Fighting as best she could, Walpurgia and her kin could not prevent the Orcish Horde from wiping out a swath of her people. Retreating to the lower reaches of the mountain, where the great city of Shadowforge lay, the Dwarves managed to hold their ground; having lost the entirety of the Blackrock Spire. Incensed by the destruction of her home, Walpurgia joined with the military of the Dark Iron clan, and marched in Emperor Thaurrisan’s name; fighting the Orcs at every turn; hampering their attempts to solidify the wasteland as orcish territory. Word eventually reached the Dark Irons of their cousin’s attempts to prevent the orcish domination of Khaz Modan, and the Second War that raged in human lands. Many clamored for the Emperor to put aside their hatreds for a time and align with the Alliance; to push back the Orcs from their home. The Emperor, knowing that Ragnaros’ eye was upon them at all times, refused, sending many like Walpurgia to the frontlines without allies. The Dark Iron clan would stand alone in this endeavor, leading to many more deaths. Against all odds, however, Walpurgia survived even this. During the Second War, the Alliance eventually did beat back the Horde after their crippling defeat at Lordaeron City. While not aligned with them, the Dark Irons did their part by continuing to harass and deter Orcish supply lines. During this time, a number of human knights known as Paladins had been captured by the clan; the knights attempting to aggress on clan holdings to aid their fight against the Orcs. As captives, they were forced to show the Dark Irons the teachings of the Light. This led to the creation of the Darkforged Crusaders; a group that Walpurgia pledged herself to out of pursuit of more ways to defeat the vile fiends destroying her home. By the end of the war, Walpurgia had been granted the powers of a paladin, and the Orcs had been scattered. Unfortunately for the Dark Iron clan, the Blackrock orcs and their black dragon allies remained one of the few unbroken orcish clans; leading to a brutal tug-o-war with the two factions that would last for decades. Wandering After the Second War, Walpurgia departed from Blackrock Mountain and the surrounding regions. The Emperor had declared the clan resurgent, and their grasp expanded beyond the blasted wastes. As the Dark Irons began to aggress on Khaz Modan, which Thaurrisan declared the Dark Iron’s birthright, Walpurgia took this as an excuse to explore the world beyond the black-scarred ranges of her home. Starting in the Badlands, the woman found herself comfortable in the arrid, rugged flatland. From there, she continued north with so many other Dark Irons; cutting a small path through Khaz Modan, until eventually reaching the Wetlands. When her group came under attack by Wildhammer dwarves; the woman took particular offense. Having been told since she was young that her sister had been taken and killed by this clan, a clan she’d never met in person, she led a small raiding party against the Wildhammers. While wandering through the Highlands; she came upon a Wildhammer champion; who rode into battle to stop them. Wielding a storm-axe, Walpurgia challenged the Wildhammer to face her off his vaunted gryphon. Allowing pride to overtake him, the Wildhammer obliged, and the two dueled. Using her explosives underhandedly, the Wildhammer was blown to bits midway into the duel; and Walpurgia took his axe. Modifying it to her clan’s iconography, the woman kept the Storm-axe, as even the Dark Irons coveted the mighty weapons of the Wildhammer. By chance, her group captured a small caravan of Wildhammer dwarves moving supplies from one town to another; where she was oddly recognized. Mistaken for a woman named Raebelyn, the name of her supposedly dead sister, Walpurgia pressed the dwarves in exchange for their freedom for what they had meant. Revealing that her sister still yet lived, as the wife of a Wildhammer shaman, Walpurgia was unsure how to process this revelation. Given that she had no familial bond with a sister she had never known, Walpurgia opted instead to depart the Highlands; headed back home for the first time in many years. A Short Homecoming By the time that Walpurgia returned home, the Dark Iron government had been turned upside down. Emperor Thaurissan had been slain, Ragnaros had been defeated, and the slavery of the Dark Iron clan by the fire elementals had ended. His wife, Moira Bronzebeard, had taken up regent of her people in the name of Dagran the second, and the Dark Irons, for the first time, were starting to step out of the shadows of their mountain. Ironically, as she just returned from her own world-trekking trip, the woman found soon after that the Queen-Regent was looking to claim her birthright; Ironforge. Finding that Blackrock held not the calm-life she remembered, Walpurgia signed on for the new Queen’s orders, and marched with the Dark Iron army to occupy Ironforge as it was in disarray over Magni Bronzebeard’s petrification. Seated upon the Great Throne; Moira declared herself ruler of Ironforge, and put the city on lockdown; with such political prisoners as Anduin Wrynn at her side. Walpurgia knew this would not end well; as the human prince was son of the newly resurgent Varian Wrynn, a man known for his short temper. Ever still, she put her time in Ironforge to work; learning what she could about Bronzebeard crafts, as well as taking what she could find for herself. By the time that Varian and his forces lifted the occupation and the short independant reign of Moira had ended; Walpurgia had profited. Ironically, despite Walpurgia believing it would end in bloodshed, the opposite had happened. A new blue banner was cast over the forces of Shadowforge; the Dark Iron Clan had pledged itself to the Alliance, and the Council of Three Hammers was formed. Alliance Now a member of the Alliance, which was still something that boggled her mind for a time, Walpurgia made a point of visiting the Highlands a second time; where she found it was under attack by the Twilight’s Hammer. More than familiar with the group, as they had infiltrated Dark Iron society quite publically, Walpurgia had little qualms aiding with their destruction. When in pursuit to find her lost sister, she had found that their town was under siege. Lending her axe, the beleaguered Wildhammers did not turn away her aid; despite the clamorings from one of the older dwarves that they should have killed her just like the rest. By the end of her first night with the Wildhammers, the village had been salvaged; and Walpurgia had found the Runeoak clan; her sister’s family. Connecting for the first time with her, much older, sister and her rather large family; Walpurgia awkwardly felt a sort of kinship with them. Pledging to aid them as they continued their fight against the Twilight’s Hammer, Walpurgia did not depart Wildhammer lands for quite some time; becoming familiar with the territory as well as the Alliance in the area during her stay. By the time Deathwing had been defeated, Walpurgia finally grew tired of the Highlands, her wanderlust demanding more from her. She headed south, once more, to Khaz Modan; bidding her sister farewell. There, she joined with Moira’s forces once again, aiding with an assault on the Frostmane Tribe of trolls that had attempted to cast their lot in with the resurgent Zandalari. Proving her Clan’s worth, Walpurgia was commended and granted a commendation from her people, giving her the first taste of recognition in the eyes of the Dark Iron she had ever had beyond being a skilled craftsman and fighter. It was an odd sensation, but led the woman to pursue further recognition for her deeds by taking off the beaten path objectives. From one odd job to another that the Dark Irons needed done, Walpurgia eventually received a letter from her sister, informing her that the Runeoaks were leaving the Highlands, for a land known as Gilneas. She had heard of the kingdom of the wolf-men many a time, and had met several Worgen, but had never actually trekked there herself. After hearing of the investment her sister spoke of, Dun Boldihr, and the worth of the embassy town to the connection with the Worgen; Walpurgia took this as her next task. Pledging herself to the service of Thane Nulric Ironcrag; Walpurgia travelled north to the rain-swept lands of Gilneas, to the Ashen Coast. There, she re-connected, once again, with her sister; finding that they had settled in nicely while Baelias and his friend, the ornery dwarf who wanted her dead, Grant, went off on adventures with the Blades of Greymane. Finding the group interesting enough, as well as a way to complete her objective to aid with ties between Gilneas and the dwarves; Walpurgia took on a position with the group. Killing two birds with one stone, this new group would also sate her wanderlust; as she would be able to travel to whatever new front the Gilneans took her to this time. Category:Characters Category:Dwarf Category:Dark Iron Dwarf Category:Blades of Greymane Category:Paladins Category:Ashen Vanguard